Football: Undermanned

My attention was perked almost immediately upon arriving at Memorial Stadium for the end of practice Tuesday night. As I waited out in the breezeway for the media to be summoned in for the final 10 minutes of practice, wide receiver Jeremy Ross walked by. Was some sort of juicy story in the works? Why wasn’t he still out on the field practicing?

Alas, much ado about nothing. Ross simply had a class to get to and was excused early for it.

Ross wasn’t the only one missing at the end of practice. Earlier in the day, defensive end Mike Costanzo was rushed to the hospital with a case of appendicitis. He is expected to remain in the hospital at least through Wednesday. Also, backup center Dominic Galas suffered a torn Posterior Cruciate Ligament in his knee and will be out six weeks, meaning he will miss the remainder of spring practice.

The Bears went in full pads again Tuesday night and there was some pretty good hitting going on at the end of practice. After practice ended, and each position group adjourned to make its way up the stands and into the Travers room for some post-practice dining — and a few selected players and coaches were interviewed by media types – quarterback Kevin Riley remained on the Memorial Stadium field. He grabbed a bag of footballs and a target net and put in some extra time. Riley practiced different drops and throws, from different distances, some on the run and some stationary. About 45 minutes had passed since the completion of practice when this beat writer had to call it a night, and Riley was still on the field working on his craft. Even the beginning of ultimate frisbee practice didn’t faze Riley. He simply moved off to the side of the field to continue working.

The Bears will practice in shells Thursday and then have a controlled scrimmage on Saturday.

Jonathan Okanes

Jonathan Okanes is in his fourth year covering Cal's football team. Previously, he covered Cal's men's basketball team for four years. He can also be followed on Twitter at twitter.com/OkanesonCal.

i have always felt that the best time to practice football is at the break of dawn. mind is sharper, body is fresher and most of all it instills discipline and dedication which football is about, among a few other things off course. i’m not sure why we don’t do that. class conflicts maybe? i don’t know but i sure hope Tedford will at some point in his career switches to mornings to evenings because i really thing it makes a difference in areas such as learning, intensity and overall sharpness of the team.

David

Kevin should of told those Frisbee players to get F’ed!

Tyler M.

JO – who is getting first team reps with the Ultimate team?

cal85

It’s best that we don’t talk too much about the Ultimate team. This level of scrutiny will only lead to high expectations and devastating disappointment down the road. Let’s just be happy that they didn’t let the football stragglers get divert their focus.

Go Ultimate Bears!

cal85

It’s best that we don’t talk too much about the Ultimate team. This level of scrutiny will only lead to high expectations and devastating disappointment down the road. Let’s just be happy that they didn’t let the football stragglers divert their focus.

Go Ultimate Bears!

noduck

this is fantastic news. he threw some footballs. you watched him for minutes shy of an hour. perhaps you not only noticed that he threw footballs, but you noticed how well he threw footballs. care to share?

without going to practice i could tell you he threw footballs. shoot, the kickers probably kicked and the running backs probably ran. thanks for leading with the non-story (ross) and following through with no information.

Davidson

Noduck, with only access to the first 10 mins and last 20 mins of practice, what else do you want JO to do?

The point is that he was throwing footballs. JO’s evaluation really doesn’t add anything, because it’s not anywhere near game situation, let alone 7 on 7 or 11 on 11s.

The point is that he was staying late after-practice and getting extra work in.

JO, thanks for your continued reporting. We certainly look forward to future posts.

milo

Cal actually does well at Ultimate at the college club level, having won a few national championships. My kid sister, princess granola, was on one such team. The stories goes they drove from Berkeley to Boulder and puffed hippie lettuce the whole way there, got there, won the tournament and drove home.

Go Bears!

rollonubears

incredible to play high, and at high altitude. wasn’t princess granola a tree dweller?

B

“i have always felt that the best time to practice football is at the break of dawn. mind is sharper, body is fresher”

Every individual is different and operates on a different circadian rhythm. For some people you’re absolutely right, for others evening practice will be when they’re sharpest and their energy levels are highest.

milo

No princess granola wasn’t a tree dweller because as a princess she can’t stand dirt, let alone crapping in a bucket for months on end. No more hippie lettuce either since she’s now a public official. Hey but if the last 3 POTUS can puff…so can the masses and the lads on tightwad hill.

noduck

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Davidson Says:

Noduck, with only access to the first 10 mins and last 20 mins of practice, what else do you want JO to do?
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What is the point of him going to watch practice? He wrote one line about the practice, which as you say he witnessed for 30 minutes: “The Bears went in full pads again Tuesday night and there was some pretty good hitting going on at the end of practice.”

The next 45 minutes he watched Riley throw. All he could say from those 45 minutes was he “put in some extra time.”

Are you telling me that had you witnessed 1 hour and 15 minutes of Cal practice and Riley throwing, you would be no more informed than you are after reading this?

Sure, he found out about some injuries. He could have got that same information with a phone call. Really nothing of note was mentioned about practice, and you can tell this by the comments (which range from making no sense to talking about ultimate frisbee…)

KoreAmBear

Song to the tune of Burt Bacharach:

“What the world needs now, is more douche bags (like Noduck). It’s the only thing, that there’s just too little of (on sports blogs).”

noduck

Thanks for the song, KAB. Now please continue to the part where you explain why I am wrong and why Okanes’ report gave you new special insight.

KoreAmBear

It’s not that he gave us any special insight – the issue is not about what JO gave us. It’s the demanding/sense of entitlement in your tone to expect something now and continuously. I get stern with my kids when they act like that. Now if you had paid for something like this . . .

noduck

I subscribed to the West County Times when I lived in Berkeley, I subscribed to the Oakland Tribune when I lived in Oakland and now I subscribe to the Contra Costa Times. All three of those papers help pay Okanes’ salary, so I do believe I contribute to this blog.

Payment is not my point. I don’t expect something now or continuously. What I would like is more than the fact something took place. When your kids come home and say they took a test at school, do you say “Great”? I bet you ask them how they did, right?

Obviously Okanes went home knowing Riley (and the rest of the team) were staying on par, looking better or looking worse. Why not share that information if he’s going to make the effort of attending practice? We all understand he only saw 30 minutes, so I don’t buy that as an excuse.